Power distributors transmit and sell electrical power to residential and commercial customers. The power distributors often buy this power on the open market and then resell the power to their customers.
One challenge is that power distributors do not know in advance an amount of power that their customers will request. If an unexpected large number of customers request power during a same time period, then the power distributor can have a power demand spike. Such spikes can lead to brownouts, outages, and higher energy costs to the customers.